The visual disclosure of SASRs: A study of impression management

Abstract

This thesis examines standalone sustainability reporting, with a focus on visual communication, through a study of the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) compliant reports of companies worldwide. It takes a blended theoretical framework of visual impression management theories and legitimacy theory to analyse the standalone sustainability reports of 69 companies worldwide in four highly sensitive sectors (Chemical, Energy, Automotive, and Mining) and four less sensitive ones (Financial Services, Telecommunications, Media, and Retailing). The research firstly examines the overall archival content of standalone sustainability reports and their breakdown into numbers, narratives, visuals, mixed materials, and blank space. It then further analyses graph types, the topics graphed, the time series and colours used, together with their potential for visual impression management through the reporting of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ news, and through graphical distortion. Finally, the authorship and preparation of standalone sustainability reports is considered through six interviews with key preparers. The key findings are: (1) that sustainability reports have become lengthy documents incorporating substantial proportions of visual material, with double the usage of graphs compared to annual reports; (2) companies typically use column and bar graphs, focus on environmental and social rather than economic issues, display relatively shorter time-series (less than five years), and show a preference for the colour green; (3) high sensitive sectors use more visuals, graphs and engage in more visual impression management in the context of graphs compared to the low sensitive sectors; (4) the preparation process is complex and costly, and companies and their CEOs are aware of the power of visual communication, graphs, and colour.